Car-starter



(No Model.)

L. W. HEWETTYSE T. MILLEN.

GAR STARTER.

N, PETERS. Vhnwulhogmphar. wamingmn, D. t;

UNITED lSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS W. HEWETT, or NEW YoEI-I, N. Y., AND `THOMAS MILLEN, oE JEE- SEY oITY, NEW JERSEY, AssIeNoEs To PHILIP n. SHAW, or WILLIAMS- CAR-STARTER.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 280,744, dated July 3, 1883.

Application llcd February 21,1883. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern: v

Beit known that we, LEWIS WV. HEWETT, of the city, county, and State of NewV York, and THOMAS MILLEN, of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey,

have invented a certain new and useful lmprovementin Car-Starters, of which the following is a specication.

Our invention relates to that class of car- Io starters in which a sleeve surrounds the axle, and a collar is placed around said sleeve, and intermediate gripping devices are provided between said sleeve and said collar, a lever being'attached to the collar and connected I 5` with the draw-bar, so that the pulling of the horses turns the collar on the sleeve, and causes said gripping devices to clamp the sleeve and turn the axle in a forward direction. Two of these starters are used, one on each axle of the 2o car, so that one is used as the car moves in one direction and the other when its direction is reversed; but if the car is always drawn from one end, only one car-starter is used. In' such a carstarter means are provided whereby, when it is not in use, the gripping devices may be removed from operative position, so that they will not act to prevent the movement of the carin the other direction. The arrangements of this kind heretofore in use 3o havebeen comparativelyunsuccessful,because, although when the car started, the gripping devices would be raised out of operation, yet as the load within the car increased the settlingof the body of the car on the springs would cause them to drop back and clamp the axle. Another difficulty hasbeen that the driver would, in detaching his horses from the car, forget to raise the gripping devices from position, and the car would be locked by the 4o starter against movement in the other direction.

Our principal obj ect is to obviate these objections, which we accomplish by providing means for locking the gripping devices out of 4 5 operative vposition independent of the vertical movement of the car-body, such means being thrown into operation by thev same movement which throws them out of such position, and

separate means being provided for releasing them when it is desired to use them again, 5o and by providing means which shall prevent the unhitching of the horses from the drawbar until the starter is thrown out of action, such means consisting of a movable bolt normally covering the draw-bar hook, but drawn back by the same movement which throws the starter out, so that the hook is uncovered. In addition, our obj ect is generally to improve the eiificiency of car-starters of the kind described.

The particular construction of car-starter to 6o which we prefer to apply our improvements is that set forth in the `joint application of the said Hewett and Sumner J. Leonard, (Serial No. 60,187.)

Our invention may be carried into effect by means illustrated in the annexed drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a carstarter and the devices for operating it, and Fig. 2 a view of the bolt which covers the 7o draw-bar hook and the means' by which it is withdrawn. Y

A represents one of the wheels of a car, and B the axle thereof. Upon said axle is fixed a sleeve having an enlarged central portion, G. The sleeve turns within a collar, D, which surrounds the enlarged portion C. A portion of said collar is formed into a chamber, c. A groove or grooves are provided in the portion C, within which work the gripping devices intermediate between the sleeve and collar, which may be one or more balls or rollers. Preferably several rollers, a, (one of which is shown in dotted lines,) each working in a separate groove, are used, as in the application referred to.

A rigid lever, E, is attached to collar D, from which lever extends a chain, F, passing over a sheave attached to the bottom of the car at G, and being attached to the draw-bar H, which is provided with a spring inclosed by the box b, and which terminates in a hook, I, at the end of the car, to which hook the horses are to be attached. y f

When the mechanism is in operative position, the gripping devices c are in contact with the sleeve C. The pulling ot'the horses on the draw-bar turns the collar D upon the sleeve C, and causes the devices a to grip said sleeve and assist in turning the axle, and when the car stops and the traces slacken the collar D falls back and is ready for operation when the car starts again.

A spring, J, may be provided to assist in bringing the collar back into position, it being desired to do this very quickly.

To throw Jthe gripping device or devices (t out of position we employ a rod, d, foreach of them, such rods passing through the bottom of chamber c, and being guided by passing through holes in a wing, e. The rods d are moved by arinsf, g, and h, the rod hbeing attached to a rock-shai`t, l, mounted on the collar D. An arm, y', from the rock-shaft tex tends to pin k, and from pin k the rod K, having a slot, f, runs to the end ofthe cai-,where it is attached to arm Z of rock-shaft m. The arm a of said rock-shaft is attached to the lower end ol' the step L. Thus the pressing down of the step L causes the movement oi" the rod K, and through the intermediate arms the gripping devices a are thrown up out of contact with the sleeve (l. A weighted arm, m, attached to shaft m., turns said shaft to throw the step up again, the slot k/ allowing this to be done without interference with the throw ing out and locking devices. If no means are provided for holding the gripping device c ont ot' position, the settling of the car on its axis may allow such devices to fallback and again grip the sleeve. W'e therefore provide a locking device which consists of the arm o, attached to arm 7 and provided with a catch, p, which, when the arms 7' and o are pushed forward by the throwing back ot' the rod K, engages with a projection, q, on the collar D, and thus holds the arm j back and keeps the rods d pressed up and holding the gripping devices a. This locking-arm o being pivoted to a part mounted upon the collar ofthe starter, and also locking with a projection from such collar, the gripping devices will be held by it out of operative position independent of the vertical movement oi' the car on its springs.

To release the catch p, a rod, L', terminating in a ring-handle, is placed in a convenient position at the end of the car, and is connected with arms r s oi" a bell-crank sleeved on the rock-shaft mf.

From arm s runs a rod, M, attached at its other end to the arms t a ot' a bellfcrank. Vixen rod L is pulled up, arm i strikes the end of rod o and raises the catch p, thus allowing the gripping devices to i'all again into operative position. A spring, o, is attached to rod M, to return it and the parts attached to it to their former positions.

Passing through the step L is a bolt, N,

having a pin, w, which enters a curved slot, fr, in the step. The bolt normally covers the draw-bar hook I, as shown, so that the horses cannot be detached from the car until the step is pressed down, when the pin in the slot causes the drawing back of the bolt and uncovers the hook. \Vhen the direction oi' the ear is to be reversed, the driver pushes down the step I, and thus throws out the gripping devices and locks them. He is then able to unhook the horses from the draw-bar. Before starting, he raises the rod L at the then iorward end of the car, and thus throws the starter at that end into action.

What we claim isl.. In a car-starter, the combination, with gripping devices intermediate between the axle, and a loose collar mounted thereon, ot' means for throwing such gripping devices out ot' action, and means attached to said collar for locking them out of action, substantially as set forth.

2. In a car-starter, the combination, with the movable intermediate gripping devices, of the rock-shaft for operating throwing-out devices for said gripping devices, mounted directly upon the loose collar, and a catch operated also by said rock-shaft and engaging with a projection on the collar, whereby said gripping devices are locked when thrown out, substantially as set forth.

3. In a car-starter, the combination, with the loose collar and the gripping devices, oi means attached to said collar i'or locking such devices out ot action, and means operated from the platform ot' the car for releasing them, substantially as set forth.

et. In a car-starter, the combination, with the catch engaging with a projection on the collar to lock the gripping devices, of a device for raising said catch from said project-ion, operated from the end of the car, substantially as set forth.

5. In a carstarter, a device covering the end ot' the draw-bar hook, in combination with means for witlidrawing such device, such means being actuated by the same movement which throws out the gripping devices, substantially set forth.

(i. In a car-starter, the combination oi` the bolt covering the end of the draw-bar hook, the step whose downward movement throws out the gripping devices, and means whereby such movement also withdraws the bolt, substantially as set forth.

This speciiication signed and witnessed this lst day of February, 1888.

LEWIS W. IIIVE'IT. THOllIAS MILLEi I. Vitnesses:

J. CLINTON HILL, H. NV. Snam'.

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